I got an email a couple of weeks ago from the fine folks at LuckyGunner.com asking me to review some ammo for them. Since one of my goals in life is to shoot as much free ammo as possible, I accepted. 😀
They sent me two boxes of 130gr Solid Copper Hollowpoints from Magtech.
My initial thoughts were “Solid copper? Seriously? And only 130gr?”
Then I remembered the perennial lead ammo bans that come up as bills in California or as EPA proposals. The small weight (.40 S&W is usually about 180gr) is still heavier than your typical 9mm round, so that is less of an issue than I originally thought.
Robb did a fantastic review of this same ammo last year, and you should go over there to see the pretty flowers this stuff makes when it expands.
So the only thing left to know is: How well does it shoot?
In a word: Awesomely
I went down to the local range and tested it out. My method was to “warm up” with some target ammo, then alternate between the test ammo, target ammo, and my current carry ammo–180gr Winchester Ranger SXT.
Top Left: Remington UMC. Top Right: Ranger SXT. Bottom Left: Magtech Solid Copper Hollowpoint. Distance is 10yds.
The four shot group from the Magtech ammo was well within “acceptable” levels.
I also filled a magazine with 3 rounds of each ammo and fired that in one relay, just to get a sense for how each round felt with regards to recoil. The Ranger SXT definitely had more felt recoil than the other two, but the Magtech ammo and the target ammo were very close in feel. This is important, as most people shoot lower-recoil target ammo, but carry hotter self defense loads. I have absolutely no evidence to back this up, but I suspect the higher recoil might affect accuracy. These rounds might be a good way to mitigate that.
I’m pretty sure I’ll be using these to fill up my new M&P. Plus, hippies will like the fact that I’m being green, right?
Are they trying to be “green” or are they trying to compete with the Corbon DPX?